Meridian Magazine--Come Follow Me Latter-day Saint Podcast

As a scholar said, “Once it happened that the crafty was taken in his own trap, the falsely condemned were saved, and the worthy were rewarded. It is not always so.” Perhaps [the] story [in Esther which we study today] has endured because it has given the comfort of hope to other oppressed people” [and demonstrates God in the details of our lives.] Although God is not expressly mentioned in the book of Esther, there appears to be evidence in it of the God whom Job describes, who can ‘set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.’”( Job 5:11-12 ). Ellis Rasmussen, Latter-day Saint Commentary on the Old Testament.

I’ve tried to contemplate the feelings of our ancient brothers and sisters in Jerusalem, who, after 371 years of having a glorious temple, watched as the temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and his forces, and those who survived the destructions were taken captive to Babylon in 586 BC. The temple was the holiest place for them, a place where they drew near unto God, a place where they offered sacrifices and renewed their covenants and commitments to Jehovah. How their hearts were broken, their hopes dashed in an instant. It seemed to me like a far-gone, untouchable experience to contemplate until one late Wednesday evening, on July 9, 2003, we started receiving urgent messages and devastating notes from Apia (aw pee’ a), Samoa—the Temple was on fire and burning out of control!

Many years ago I was dealing with a very difficult challenge in our lives. I prayed and prayed and prayed about it. I fasted about it. I was so in need of heavenly help. And then, what seemed like the most obscure answer came to me. It was unexpected. It was very specific. It changed everything. We’ll talk about it in today’s podcast!

Some events from the past are tipping points, that is, if they had had another outcome than they did, our world would be utterly and completely different, maybe unrecognizable to us. The events in the scriptures we talk about today are one of those key tipping points in history where the entire future of the world hung in the balance.

What do you do when it seems your wounded heart can never recover? Roger Connor’s new book Healing the Wounded Heart can help you on this journey. A podcast extra from Scot and Maurine Proctor.

Join us with McKay Christensen who has served as Managing Director of External Relations at BYU and management strategy instructor at the BYU Marriott School of Business as we explore the mantle being passed from Elijah to Elisha. What do we mean by a mantle in the Church? Are mantles for more than prophets and missionaries?

Join us with guest Patrick Degn who has been an instructor in the Seminaries and Institutes of Religion for more than 25 years. In this episode we will explore the story of King Ahab and Jezebel and the abrupt introduction of the man who tried to counteract their influence: Elijah.

These are chapters that are enough to break your heart. I have always loved David, and I thrill to the things he writes about the Lord and his love for the Lord. So. to see the events of his life unfold have truly always been personal to me. I feel a personal loss when we're thinking about David. So let's talk a little bit about his background.

We have with us today a special guest, Mark Matthews. Together we discuss Israel’s desire for a king and Saul’s rise to the position, and how he loses his way. We also discuss the story of David facing Goliath and how it can represent much more than we often think about.

Ruth is a happy interlude in these chapters. It's not a story of a prophet, a war, or a dramatic intervention by the Lord, but it's a family story, a private story in some ways, but it's the family story of the family of the Savior. We love it because we are seeing really good people who are living the covenant at work. So this is a book that brings us joy.

As I study the Old Testament something comes to me over and over again. When Jesus said, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me,” he was sending the people to the Old Testament to find Him. When Lehi opened the Plates of Brass for the first time and searched them from the beginning (see 1 Nephi 5:10) and then he “was filled with the Spirit, and began to prophesy concerning his seed (see 1 Nephi 5:17) he was immersed in the Old Testament. When Nephi says, “For my soul delighteth in the scriptures and my heart pondereth them…” he was talking about the Old Testament. When Ammon, Aaron, Omner and Himni converted seven cities of the Lamanites and brought untold thousands to the Savior, they were using only the Old Testament in their teaching! What a treasure we have in the Old Testament!

The story of the Abrahamic covenant is your family story. Kerry Muhlestein says, “We don’t often think of it in that manner.” But our grandfather Abraham grew up in a turbulent time, where “his own father was steeped in idolatry. He saw his immediate family involved in horrible practices, including human sacrifice, but he knew there was a better way. Records had come down from his forefathers and foremothers, from Adam and Eve, Seth and Enoch, and Abraham reached for the heavens hoping to join his answers in the covenant. “Then one starry night, God came to him, putting His hand over him, opening his eyes, and pouring out the power and blessings of the covenant upon him, welcoming Abraham and Sarah into the community of God and those who were bound to him. They had sought God and now they had found him.” These are the covenants offered to you.

Special guest Ketty Muhlestein shares how Deuteronomy is Moses summarizing the covenant and the process that Israel has gotten through to be a covenant people and what the covenant is and what they need to do about it. This is really important for them. But it’s equally important for us as a covenant people, who are trying to embark on building a Zion society.

In this episode, we study Numbers 11–14, 20–24, and 27 and explore one of the most exciting discoveries in Israel: the Priestly Blessing from Numbers 6:24–26. Unearthed in 1979 in the Valley of Hinnom, this 2,800-year-old silver scroll is the oldest known scriptural text, preserving the words we know so well—“The Lord bless thee and keep thee…”—and connecting us to history in a tangible, unforgettable way. Plus, we’re joined by special guest John Hilton III to dive deeper into this sacred treasure.

In a world that is steadily growing darker and more tumultuous. The Lord’s voice speaks to the tumult and says in Leviticus chapter 19 verse two, “Ye shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” That’s quite a commandment for his Children in a fallen world. But we know that the Lord knows how to do His work and he wants His people to be holy.

Welcome to Meridian Magazine's Come Follow Me podcast. We're thrilled to be with you again this week as we discuss Exodus chapters 19 -20, 24, and 31-34, a very important and wonderful part of the Old Testament. This week, we welcome another special guest that we think you'll be very excited to have join us. Kerry Muhlestein is one of our favorites, because we love his books so much. He's written many, but we have favorites. We love, Let God Prevail, which is all about the covenant in the Old Testament and, of course, his prolific work on the Book of Abraham. He is an Egyptologist, a professor at BYU, but most of all, we are impressed with his passion to make what people consider the hard things of the Old Testament easier.

Welcome. We're Scot and Maurine Proctor, and this is Meridian Magazine's Come Follow Me podcast, where today we'll study Exodus chapters 14 through 18 at the miraculous moment in the history of the children of Israel, where the Lord parts the Red Sea, and they pass through on dry ground in an ultimate triumph for the Lord over Egypt. Now, we have with us today Jeffrey M. Bradshaw. He has a PhD in cognitive science, but is particularly known by Latter-day Saints for his detailed commentaries on the Old Testament, the Pearl of Great Price, and temple themes in scriptures.

In this episode, we'll be studying Exodus chapter 7 through 13. Some material that you'll find very familiar to you. This is, of course, the intriguing story of the children of Israel coming out of captivity because God spared His people, and the type that became for all of the covenant people to this very day.

When Joseph became vizier of Egypt, second only to Pharoah and wearing his ring of authority, he also got a new name that doesn’t exactly roll off our English-speaking tongues. It is Zaphnath-paaneah and what it lacks in clarity, it more than makes up in its meaning which is “savior of the world.” Yes, his starving family will come from Canaan, hoping to buy the corn that Joseph has stored in Egypt, but his name signifies even more than that.

Children can tell the story of Joseph being sold into Egypt. We know it well, with nasty brothers, slave dealers, false accusations, pits of despair and drama galore. What’s most important about this story, however, may not be obvious, and that’s what we are talking about in this episode.

We remember well thoseevents and carry their magnificent hope with us. One night Scot and I were trying to photograph an olive tree on the Mount of Olives, not far from Gethsemane, to represent the Savior in the garden. It was dark and gradually a hush and then silence fell over our world where we worked alone. Because it was dark, these photographs took several minutes, and we worked alone on that mount for nearly three hours, hoping to capture a stunning photograph. We remembered how Elder Jeffrey R. Holland had described the Savior’s atonement. “We celebrate the gift of victory over ever fall we have ever experienced, every sorrow we have ever known, every discouragement we have ever had, every fear we have ever faced—to say nothing of our resurrection from death and forgiveness for our sins.”

Daniel C. Peterson, retired professor of Islamic Studies and founder and editor-in-chief of the Interpreter Foundation, and producer of the film Witnesses, joins Scot and Maurine to explore Moses’s profound encounter with the burning bush and the charge he was given to confront Pharoah with the message to “Let my people go.”

March 2-8The story of Jacob in the Bible has all the elements of high drama. True love thwarted, family division, a deceiving father-in-law, a tight escape. If it was a movie you’d want to watch it, but it’s much better than a movie because overarching all, it is the story of the covenant in the lives of real people.

February 23-March 1I remember the first time I visited the massive, ancient building erected by Herod the Great in Hebron. He had it built over the Cave of Machpelah more than 2,000 years ago to mark and protect the sacred resting place of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob and Leah. I walked into the building as a ten-year-old with a covering over my head and my parents, brothers and a number of friends at my side. There was one place where you could go to your knees and carefully look through a brass grate and see into the cave below. A small lamp was burning there. A feeling came over me at that moment, not only that this was a sacred place, but that I was connected to Abraham. He was my direct-line grandfather. I have never forgotten that moment.

February 16-22In Genesis, we soar through the stories of generations in a few pages, as if we were flying thousands of feet above them and getting the merest glimpse. Then suddenly we drop for a closer view for many chapters of one man and his family—Abraham.

February 9-15The greatest potential for danger is one that we cannot afford to close our eyes to and miss. That is the growing wickedness around us that is seeping into our lives without announcement or warning flare. It just crawls on clawed feet into the hearts of ourselves and our children, as quietly as that asteroid did that swept close to earth. But wickedness is not a near miss. It is targeted, upon us, and more destructive than we have ever supposed.

February 2-8The Prophet Joseph said: “The building up of Zion is a cause that has interested the people of God in every age; it is a theme upon which prophets, priests and kings have dwelt with peculiar delight; they have looked forward with joyful anticipation to the day in which we live; and fired with heavenly and joyful anticipations they have sung and written and prophesied of this our day; but they died without the sight; we are the favored people that God has made choice of to bring about the Latter-day glory; it is left for us to see, participate in and help to roll forward the Latter-day glory.” What can we be doing to help to establish Zion? We’re going to talk about it in this episode.

January 26-February 1It was a beautiful fall day in 1894. The Manti Temple looked glorious as the morning light almost gave it a heavenly glow. My handsome, six-foot-four-inch, twenty-five-year-old Grandfather, Peter Daniel Jensen was there to meet and marry his beautiful twenty-year-old bride, Sarah Jane Rees. Family was gathered and it was indeed a day of joy and happiness. Grandpa was known to be a consistent journal keeper. How would he describe this glorious day in his sacred journal? I have seen what he wrote for Wednesday, September 26, 1894. It simply read:“Today I married Sarah Jane Rees.”Adam and Eve also kept a Book of Remembrance and fortunately, they recorded so much more! Let’s talk about that in this episode.

January 19-25Creation, fall, redemption. These are the three pillars of eternity, the story that was Adam and Eve’s and ours too. It is one grand picture. We think of a book like the Old Testament as being dusty and very far away from us, but in reality it is our first story. It is our story. We think of the war in heaven that first set Satan on his path to put men and women in bondage and chains as something that was handled and finished eons ago, but in reality, that war in heaven was just the first skirmish of a war that is raging ever hotter by the year.

January 12-18Today are we going back to the beginning, to cosmic explosions and brilliant flashes of light and creation that is primordial, at the very core of our existence. We have four accounts of it, in Genesis, Moses, Abraham, and in the temple. Those who attend the temple have their minds drawn back to creation continually, and we might wonder as Latter-day Saints why we are shown the creation so often. We’ll talk about why it matters so much today.

January 5-11 Don’t all of us have a secret desire to be on the stage, dressed in amazing costumes, involved in a play with a Director, with our own starring roles, with a character-driven plot and lots of intrigue and excitement in our story? Imagine then that you ARE intimately involved in an award-winning three act play and you are already quite far into Act 2. But here’s the catch, you can only fully understand Act 2 if you have a knowledge of Act 1—and when you finished Act 1, the curtains were dropped and you can not only NOT look back on that part of the play, you can’t even remember it. Do we know anything about Act 1 at all? Yes, we do—quite a bit, actually. And that’s what we’re going to talk about in this episode.

Sometimes we feel overwhelmed as we start this particular year of studies in the Old Testament. Perhaps it is the sheer size of the book. Perhaps it is the archaic language and culture. Perhaps it seems to be so disconnected from us in time. But let us remember how the Old Testament permeates all the other scriptures.

December 22-28Since I was a child, on Christmas Eve, I yearned to be in that very stable in Bethlehem and see the Christ-child lying in a manger.  I wanted to be close to that glowing presence and feel the heavenly love and hear the angel chorus. It was a yearning that was soul deep, undeniable, breath-taking and heart-felt, and it seemed that somewhere, some how that event was happening again on that magic night, if I could just go to Bethlehem, and defy time and find the right place. That was the magic of it all. I could talk to the baby, the Christ-child and He would look at me with knowing, smiling eyes and heart would be satisfied. It was more compelling to me than what Santa Claus would bring me or all the lights and festivities of Christmas. I am not alone in that yearning.

Have we not had a prophet among us? Part of the gift of a prophet, seer and revelator is to see what’s coming. That’s the see-er part of seer. On September 23, 1995, President Hinckley announced and read The Family—A Proclamation to the World to the women of the church in a General Relief Society meeting. It reaffirmed so many things that are precious to us. God’s eternal plan is about families. The plan of salvation is a family story.  In fact, the pre-mortal world was a place where we were nurtured by Heavenly Parents who were invested with extraordinary love in our growth and progress. It is not surprising that connection and relationships would be our foremost joy in this life. Our eternal souls were raised in a place of connection. It is what we are made for. It is an eternal yearning inside of us. Our heaven is not a place of lonely individuals who play harps alone on clouds, but a place of families and communities united together in love. It is a people who have learned to love, even when loving seems difficult.

December 8-14We know that the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote the Articles of Faith as part of a larger request from Mr. John Wentworth, editor and proprietor of the Chicago Democrat, a brand-new newspaper in the young, bustling city of Chicago. The Democrat would be published for just seven years, from 1842 to 1849. Mr. Wentworth wanted a concise history of the fledgling Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and he wanted it written by its founder, Joseph Smith. The piece was also to be a part of the history of New Hampshire, being compiled by a Mr. George Barstow, a friend of John Wentworth. Joseph agreed to write the piece with this agreement: “As Mr. Barstow has taken the proper steps to obtain correct information, all that I shall ask at his hands is that he publish the account entire, ungarnished, and without misrepresentation.” Joseph carefully compiled the letter but it was never published in the newspaper or any history of New Hampshire. But this letter has become one of the great treasures of Church History.

Something surprised Joseph in his vision of the celestial kingdom, and we’ll tell you what that is in this episode.

November 24-30Maurine and I lead a church history tour every year. We’ve done this for 30 years. We take our many participants through two days of Revolutionary War and the foundations of freedom. Then we go to Sharon, Vermont and begin Joseph Smith’s life chronologically and naturally we end the two weeks in the Carthage Jail. It’s an unbelievable experience. We always have a testimony meeting that last day after the emotional experience of the Carthage Jail. I’ll never forget one year, one of the brothers on the tour, who had been especially attentive throughout that two-week period, said emphatically in his testimony, while still on the Jail grounds, “I’m so angry. I’m just so angry!” Since we had never heard that as part of a testimony before and he gave a rather long pause, I cut in and asked aloud, “Why?” He said, “Because they killed him. They killed Joseph Smith. It was unjust. It was wrong. It was so wrong. I’m just so angry.” And that was his final testimony. And it stuck with me. Let’s explore the historical, emotional and passionate ending of Joseph and Hyrum Smith’s lives today.

November 17-23The Book of Mormon is indeed a special witness for our times. It is the story of a people who centered their lives on the prophecies of the coming of a Messiah, who is Jesus Christ the Lord. They put their hopes in His Coming and in His Atoning Sacrifice that would be wrought. They anxiously awaited His Coming. They prepared a place for Him to come. They waited for six hundred years for His arrival. And then He came as promised! We are no different in our day. We know that He is coming. Many prophecies of His Coming have been given in our day. A place has been prepared for Him to come. And He will come! Section 133 gives us much to think about to prepare for His inevitable and glorious arrival. Let’s explore this together.

The Proctors interview Steve Densley and Dr. Paul Fields on their in-depth historical and word studies on Doctrine and Covenants 132

November 10-16The lesson we study today has some of the most transcendent and astonishing teachings that Joseph Smith gave us, opening our ideas to what really is in the eternities and how we can obtain the blessings we desire. We will also be talking about what is sometimes a challenging principle, that has puzzled many for a lifetime, and at least once, led me to tears—plural marriage. Stay tuned.

November 3-9As the Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel continued to unfold in the early 1840’s, one revealed doctrine thrilled the Latter-day Saints beyond imagination. Yes, there were some references to this doctrine in the Holy Bible, but no Christian denomination at that time understood it, and none practiced it. When the Prophet Joseph first made public this amazing truth on Saturday, August 15, 1840, many of the Saints present were so excited, they immediately ran to the Mississippi River to begin the practice. And what is this doctrine? Baptism for the Dead. Today we’ll talk about this glorious truth in detail.

October 27-November 2What happened during the nearly two years that elapsed between the reception of Section 123 and Section 124 of the Doctrine and Covenants? As it turns out, plenty. We’ll talk about that today.

October 20-26So, here’s a question: In the midst of all the challenges, trials, privations and difficulties the Saints experienced in Missouri, how is it that when the Church really needed the leadership of the Prophet Joseph, God allowed him to be put in an obscure and remote Jail, ironically called Liberty? Why would God do that? This is the Kingdom of God on the earth. Isn’t the God of the Universe watching out for His chosen Prophet? Let’s explore that question today.

October 13-19I stand in Far West, a rather obscure place in northern Missouri, and as far as I can see, where once there was a bustling community of Latter-day Saints with homes, shops and a school, there are only empty fields. What happened to the people who once were here and why is only silence left behind? How could it possibly be that a sitting governor could order an extermination order on a group of people? Here in America? Unthinkable. It’s a human, heart-breaking story that gives us context for today’s episode.

October 6-12As you begin this week’s reading assignment, and you don’t skip over the headnotes in Section 111, you realize this revelation was given in Salem, Massachusetts. Isn’t the central leadership of the Church in Kirtland, Ohio? What is the First Presidency doing in Salem nearly 650 miles to the east and a whopping 1,500 miles from Western Missouri? Isn’t this the same city of the famous Salem Witch Trials 144 years before in 1692? This will all make sense as we study together in this episode.

September 29-October 5The building of the Kirtland temple marked a pivotal moment in the history of the earth, a time yearned for for centuries, when this key part of the covenant would be restored to the earth. The Lord said, “I gave unto you a commandment, that you should build an house, in the which house I design to endow those whom I have chosen, with power from on high” (Sec. 95:8).” That power was manifest in astonishing ways that we will talk about in this episode.

September 22-28If you do a cursory reading of Section 107 of the Doctrine and Covenants, you might think this is just a revelation of priesthood quorums and councils, more like a manual or a handbook. Don’t be deceived! Yes, there are tremendous organizing aids and guidance for all the quorums and councils of the Church, but there are hidden gems and mysteries throughout this amazing section and we will explore some of those together in this episode.

September 15-21The material we talk about today gives us specifics about a dramatic, heart-rending series of events from the 19 th  century, but is also so relevant for our times, as if the story was written just for us. It simply could not be more to the point.

September 8-14How would it feel to move a thousand miles by foot and wagon, taking all your belongings you could carry—with a mission to gather to a specific place and build a community and society called Zion. You’ve barely been introduced to the concept of Zion—a people of one heart, striving with all their might to stay close to God and live the commandments He has given them. You’ve gathered in families and close-knit friend groups. You’ve purchased beautiful, verdant, fertile lands to build your homes and raise your crops. It’s truly an idyllic setting and situation. Except, what happens when opposition is introduced in the form of hundreds of people who don’t want you there are will do anything, including kill you, to get you out of their county?

September 1-7How important are temples to the Lord? When Joseph Smith was on his first mission to Missouri in the summer of 1831, only 17 months after the Church was organized, on August 3, 1831, he received a revelation about a temple to be built in Independence in Jackson County. (D&C 57:3). Then, on December 27, 1832 in Section 88 (v. 119), the Lord revealed that a temple was to be built in Kirtland. So, the Saints had been commanded to build two temples, one in Jackson County and one in Kirtland, but, honestly, in mortal eyes, it was a task that looked impossible.